SNOHOMISH — Riley Reeves, 9, used to go straight home after school. There was no place in town he could hang out with friends.
But that changed in September when a youth center opened at Pine Avenue and Second Street. Riley, a fourth-grader at Emerson Elementary School, became a member right away.
Now he goes to the Snohomish Boys &Girls Club every school day.
"There is a lot of games, and it’s fun. And the staff is really nice," Riley said Wednesday at the center while playing foosball with friends.
The club already has about 1,300 members, said Sunny Duffy, unit director of the club. About 120 come to the center Monday through Friday. Emerson, Central and Dutch Hill elementary schools provide bus service to the club.
Everett Olsen, 89, a retired Washington State Patrol officer, started talk of building a youth center more than a decade ago. The Snohomish native said he is happy with the club’s popularity.
"That shows how much the community needed it," Olsen said, adding that he goes almost every week to the building, which is named after him.
Sue Lutz and her son Chris, 7, were at the center Wednesday so Chris could become a member, which costs $20 a year.
"He’s been bugging us, ‘I wanna go! I wanna go!’" Lutz said, adding that many of his friends visit the center.
More than 100 children were having fun Wednesday in the 15,000-square-foot, $1.2 million center, which includes a game room, a gym with basketball hoops, and an arts and craft room.
The center also has a room for those older than 13 where they can watch movies, sing karaoke and listen to music.
Billy Nissen, 16, said he likes to hang out with friends, but he also plays with the younger kids.
"I like little kids, too," said Nissen, a junior at Snohomish High School. "I’ve always been a good friend for young kids. And I want to be a kindergarten teacher."
Reporter Yoshiaki Nohara: 425-339-3029 or
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